Personally, I think this is relevant only as it pertains to competition.
It is doubtful that your average client will care if it was done by hand or not. But to have your skills evaluated in a competition, you have to expect lower scores if the judges know you used a cricut instead of hand piping or whatall.
I agree with the few previous posts...i do think it takes away from the skill of cake decorating....and you can't really compare a cricut with buddy's sheeter....not even close to the same type of tool...a sheeter does ONE thing only...rolls dough...something my 3 yr old daughter can do(ok not as well as sheeter of course but i think you get my point)..the cricut actually makes decorations....that takes skill....i know it may save time but i'd be shocked to find any big time cake decorator use a cricut....even though i'm sure it would save them loads of time....I think that's what they get paid the big bucks for is their skill..not what some machine can do for them...sorry again I don't know why i have such a hard time with the cricut...it hasn't sat well with me since they've come out....and as far as asking does it take away from scrapbooking..that is a completely different craft.....
you can tell right away when someone uses a for stenciling,letters or numbers...they all start to look the same....I am not against tools "helping" to create the end result just not something that completely creates it for me....maybe it's just the artist in me..
I can't find the quote where someone referred to woodworking and dove-tail joints - but I believe the point was that the worker/artist takes pride in the fact that they can do that by hand rather than a machine to do it for them.
There ARE people that appreciate craftmanship, and maybe that's not most people, but you do what gives you personal satisfaction.
so i might be just throwing a different spin on things but i think i get where cakeprof is coming from. i think a circuit can take away from skill-i'm not saying don't use one but what about this...
i was watching a cake competition on Food Network and one of the competitors used the circuit to create the majority of her design. Keri commented on this yet the lady still won the competition. i thought this was a great disadvantage to the other competitors. if i was a part of that i would have felt completly ripped off. so isn't that the point of this tool? it's perfect-better than what you could do by hand? yes it saves time, loads i'm sure. do i want one? YES all those crazy fonts, designs that i haven't been able to find stencils/cutters for. i see it as a boost for the talent i already possess but as for competition i think you need to showcase your skills and talent in a more basic way. (just to stir things up?)
i was watching a cake competition on Food Network and one of the competitors used the circuit to create the majority of her design. Keri commented on this yet the lady still won the competition. i thought this was a great disadvantage to the other competitors. if i was a part of that i would have felt completly ripped off. so isn't that the point of this tool? it's perfect-better than what you could do by hand?
It isn't necessarily always better than what someone can do by hand. In some cases, decorators are very skilled at cutting by hand, but the cricut saves them time, which is pretty valuable to a cake decorator when you think of how long it takes to complete even the most "simple" cakes. I'm definately on the fence though about using them in competition. As I said before, most people don't care if you use a cricut or spend hours cutting things by hand as long as you get their cake right, but in a competition, isn't it more about the "getting there" part?
Just another thought on the subject. Do we consider fondant or candy molds to be cheating? I know I could never hope to make the babies that can be made in the molds. My husband might, but I know I never could, yet we rave about these molds when they come out and we buy them and use them, and no one thinks it's wrong, or cheating. Even the pearl molds are so much more perfect and consistent. I can make pearls for the cake, but the mold just looks more polished. And I've only used the mold one time...... so far
I agree with the few previous posts...i do think it takes away from the skill of cake decorating....and you can't really compare a with buddy's sheeter....not even close to the same type of tool...a sheeter does ONE thing only...rolls dough...something my 3 yr old daughter can do(ok not as well as sheeter of course but i think you get my point)..the actually makes decorations....that takes skill....i know it may save time but i'd be shocked to find any big time cake decorator use a ....even though i'm sure it would save them loads of time....I think that's what they get paid the big bucks for is their skill..not what some machine can do for them...sorry again I don't know why i have such a hard time with the ...it hasn't sat well with me since they've come out....and as far as asking does it take away from scrapbooking..that is a completely different craft.....
There were a couple of "big time" cake decorators that used them on challenges..........you need to watch more TV.
I agree with the few previous posts...i do think it takes away from the skill of cake decorating....and you can't really compare a with buddy's sheeter....not even close to the same type of tool...a sheeter does ONE thing only...rolls dough...something my 3 yr old daughter can do(ok not as well as sheeter of course but i think you get my point)..the actually makes decorations....that takes skill....i know it may save time but i'd be shocked to find any big time cake decorator use a ....even though i'm sure it would save them loads of time....I think that's what they get paid the big bucks for is their skill..not what some machine can do for them...sorry again I don't know why i have such a hard time with the ...it hasn't sat well with me since they've come out....and as far as asking does it take away from scrapbooking..that is a completely different craft.....
There were a couple of "big time" cake decorators that used them on challenges..........you need to watch more TV.
I actually watch and tivo ALOT of those shows and have yet to see them use a cricut..maybe i'm not watching close enough....now I will make sure to look and see if they do....
don't feel guilty this is your opinion, but to me is not cheating at all . is saving time and money because you don't have to spend money buying all kinds of cutters. if this is cheating then all cake decorators cheat becasue they use sooooo many different tools to decorate their cakes. like molds,cutters,paints, etc.
i was watching one of the cake challenges this evening and the decorators were marked down for using the cricut, in fact it played a big part into why they didn't win ..while they were decorating with it they were told that they needed to do more hand detail.........when one of the judges asked what she thought of them using "computer generated" images...she replied that she is a "cake decorator" so she uses her hands to decorate...
i know this topic is a bit old now, but i felt the need to post a response.
i'll start by saying that, although my experience with cake decorating is limited, i do feel that i have some talent and skills that i can develop on. with that said, i recently purchased the Cricut Cake and am really enjoying using it. i do not feel that it is cheating, because it still requires a certain amount of skill in order to pull off decorating a cake with these "cut" pieces without the cake looking like a scrapbook page. one of the reasons i love the Cricut Cake is that it will allow me to do more with less time, while still keeping the cost of the cake down for my clients. for example, i can spend more time creating intricate gumpaste flowers, since it will take less time to make intricate damask pieces using the Cricut. in my opinion, no matter what tools you use, it all comes down to one thing...does the finished outcome look artistic, clean, and decorated to suit the clients specifications? cutting random pieces out on the Cricut Cake and slapping them on a cake is not going to make an award-winning showpiece. however, with appropriate artistic vision and perhaps some hand-piping, the Cricut Cake makes the decorating possibilities endless!
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